Archive for December, 2011

Every Year hundreds of thousands of people make promises they will never keep, and though this happens all year round, it is most prevalent on New Year’s eve. There are countries that have already welcomed in the new year, not China, and, no doubt, people who have already broken their resolutions. Asking around it’s hard to find a single person who has managed to keep to such a promise, so I think I’ll stick to searching for needles in hay stacks instead.

It’s been a few years since I’ve openly admitted to a real resolution. Mostly I make them quietly, fully expecting to keep these empty promises, though ultimately forgetting them mere days into the New Year. Perhaps the problem lies in who we are making the promise for. It’s much harder to disregard a promise made to a friend than it one made to yourself, isn’t it? So this year my resolution is to you, anyone that reads this blog. I aim to make a post every day for the next year. Now remember, I may choose to give up at any time, but I have, in the past, made it to around seven months.

If I fail then I will know once and for all that keeping resolutions is not down to personal responsibility. However, if I succeed I will have proved it is and should, if my opinion and wild speculation are taken into account, be nominated for a Nobel prize, in literature or whatever I’m not picky. I’m excited about this new challenge, I had fun last time, mostly, and it’ll feel good to get back in that swing. Thanks for reading, happy New Year and don’t forget to subscribe/follow, leave a comment, click the like button and follow me on Twitter, plus, if there’s any time left, enjoy yourself.

Do you remember that great feeling you got on Christmas when you were a kid? I do and, since the reveal of the great Santa mystery, that feeling has been gone. Personally, Christmas has never been my favourite holiday, but still I can’t help wonder if the lack of Christmas spirit is throw a lack of trying. That’s way this year I’ve invented something called The Christmas Overdose, which is when you overdose on Christmassy things; movies, books, music, traditions, etc. So I thought it’d be fun to bring my writing into the overdose, which is why today I’ve prepared five really bad gift ideas. These are five toys that don’t exist and we’re lucky they don’t. I made the pictures myself so I’m almost positive you won’t see them on shelves this year.

Convertible cars and dream houses don’t pay for themselves. During the day Barbie may be cruising around town with Ken, but at night she works that pole in her very own strip club. Other toys can look, but if they touch Ken will show them the door.

With the overcrowding in Sylvania having a baby is a tough decision, but sometimes it can’t be helped or can it. Since the introduction of the Sylvanian abortion clinic, unwanted pregnancies and overpopulation are things of the past.

Re-enact all your favourite moments for World War II with this new Lego World War II set. Lego Hitler is included.

Will you or your friend manage to get lucky for times in a row? This is a fun two player game that half of the contestants can play again.

If you’re bored of simply drawing a stickman on a page, then why not add some excitement to the game by bringing in this enlightened new element. Risk yours or other people’s lives, if you’re nervous get grandma involved (it’s probably almost lights out for her anyway).

Naturally I discourage anyone from actually trying to make these games. I’ve been a bit worried about offending people, but hopefully I didn’t. It’s all intended as a joke, but do let me know what you thought, even if it’s bad, by leaving a comment and voting below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button. If you want to follow me on Twitter it’s https://twitter.com/#!/AdamODwyer1.

A second, more detailed, trailer for The Dark Knight Rises has hit the web and, among the positive comments, there are some negatives to be pointed out. Does this mean that Nolan will fail to top the hugely successful second film?

There is no doubt that the latest Batman film will top the box office when it comes out, but are fans going to be satisfied with this ‘epic’ conclusion? As a Batman (and Christopher Nolan) fan, I hope so. However, The Dark Knight was done so well that it’s going to be hard to top and I’m not sure if any of the villains in The Dark Knight Rises will be able to compare to Heath Ledger as The Joker.

Also, some of the things from the trailer were a little, how do I put it, odd. At one point a football pitch collapses into a big crater, which just seemed a little too Final Destination. Then there is the random futuristic flying thing. If I’m completely honest, that just seemed like it was in the wrong movie, like a Michael Bay leftover or something. I do want to be wrong here, I hope that when seen in proper context these things fit in perfectly with the tone, and the world, of the series.

It’s not all bad; there were things I liked too. After seeing the trailer I am more confident in Anne Hathaway playing Catwoman. Though you don’t actually see her as Catwoman, she does have a scene where she warns Bruce Wayne of the impending chaos. Bane also seems pretty cool and at one point it looks as though he was defeated Wayne and say ‘when Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die’. So I’m pretty sure both Catwoman and Bane no that Bruce Wayne is Batman, probably after discovering it throughout the film.

This film takes place eight years after its predecessor. The people of Gotham have recovered from The Joker’s attacks and now the city is relatively peaceful. There has been no need for Batman, who had become an outlaw after taking the blame for Harvey Dent. Now Batman must return to prevent Gotham once again falling into the hands of the criminals.

Watch the trailer and let me know what you think? Do you agree/disagree with the points I’ve made? Are there other things you did/didn’t like about the trailer? Overall did you think it was good or bad? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button. If you want news on future reviews and projects follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/#!/AdamODwyer1.

Having only read about the Swedish film it’s hard to make any real comparisons, but David Fincher has adapted the late Stieg Larsson’s book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, beautifully. The film translates the dark masterpiece of the Swedish journalist perfectly into a wonder and intriguing film that, right from the start, grabs viewers, with an abstract, and kickass, title sequence, and holds their attention until, near, the end of the incredibly long film

Going into the film without seeing so much as a trailer, I really had no idea what to expect and, if I’m honest, I didn’t think I was going to like it. The main thing putting me off was the length of the film, which is just under three hours. I thought I’d get bored long before the end, but with characters this interesting and complex, it was hardly an issue. The shear psychological understanding of the characters is amazing. Things like why they do what they do and how they react to each other, have been so clearly mapped out that it’s easy to believe the characters are real people. The film does take these characters to some dark places, especially Lisbeth (the girl with the dragon tattoo), and it’s hard to watch at times, but still very nice to see such great acting.

The film follows two different characters, who eventually meet up, Lisbeth (played by Rooney Mara), an antisocial girl with a photographic memory and incredible computer hacking skills, and Mikael (Daniel Craig), an investigative reporter. When Mikael is sued for libel after making accusations about a rich businessman, he quits his job in an attempt to protect the magazine he co-owns. He is then recruited by an old man named Henrik (Christopher Plummer) to solve the 36 year old mystery of Henrik’s niece’s murder. Mikael agrees, but is unaware that Lisbeth had already been hired by Henrik to do a background check on him. When he finds out he asks to see her report, noticing there are things she could not have found out without hacking into his computer, he then hires her to assist him in solving the case.

There isn’t a single actor in the film that didn’t do a great job, even the Swedish accents seemed flawless and I was legitimately surprised when I found out which ones were real and which were not. However, I couldn’t help thinking, at least at the start, how pointless the accents were. Why make all of the characters speak in English with Swedish accents? If you want them Swedish get them speaking Swedish. I’m not saying that Craig and Mara should have been forced to learn another language for the film, but giving them the accents made it seem like it was just an adaption for the people that were too lazy to read the subtitles on the Swedish version. Though, I’m sure there are some stylistic differences too, that’s just what crossed my mind while watching the film.

I’ve already mentioned how great the acting was, but I feel more attention has to be given to Rooney Mara, who essentially transformed herself for this role. She was brilliant, the best part of the film. Her character is probably the most complicated of the lot, and that’s saying something. It’s not hard to sympathise with her as she goes through her dark journey and the sense of isolation is just overpowering at times. She has been hurt by nearly everyone she’s ever known so it’s hard for her to trust anyone. Mara is able to bring so many levels into every scene, watching her body language you can see Lisbeth’s fear of real intimacy and getting emotionally involved with anybody. There is desperation in her actions and Mara has the ability to convey this in a subtle way.

Clearly aimed at a more mature audience, some scenes were really hard to watch. One scene in particular were the viewer must watch a rape, was genuinely disturbing. It was necessary to the understanding of the character, but was still horrible to see. The villain of the movie is so routed in psychology that it was a bit like watching a combination of the shows Dexter and Criminal Minds. It’s rare to see a film were the bad guy has a motive that is just so purely sick and realistic, not at all like the ones given by the killers in franchises such as Scream and Urban Legends.

Though the end was somewhat unsatisfying, this film is still, to my surprise, a brilliant, intriguing and intelligent piece of work. Despite having never read the book, I didn’t have trouble keeping track of the many suspects and was so engrossed in the story it almost didn’t matter. At times it felt as though they could have gotten three films out of this one book, but that’s more to do with the level of detail than anything else. This movie was so well done that I feel it’s only a matter of time before they adapt the sequel as well. It is a true shame that the author, Stieg Larsson, died before the book was even released.

What do you think? Have you read the book? Did you see the Swedish version? Are you a fan of David Fincher? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below, also don’t forget to subscribe and click the like button. If you want to keep up to date with future posts and projects follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/AdamODwyer1.

This summer Men in Black fans will finally get a third instalment in the MIB franchise, which may or may not be a good thing. A couple of days ago, the first trailer was released so now we can see, with our own eyes, how the film will compare to the others.

One of the main concerns people had about the film was that Tommy Lee Jones was essentially being replaced by Josh Brolin and from watching the trailer it does seem like, for most of the movie, this is what’s going to happen. Personally, of the two, I prefer Jones’ character, Agent K, over Agent J, played by will Smith, and will be disappointed if Brolin plays the character for the most part. Adding salt to the wound, as I pointed out in a previous post, Brolin is too old to play Agent K in the 60s.

These things aside, the rest of the trailer does suggest that we may have an interesting MIB sequel on our hands. The first film was really good but, not to be too critical of the second, maybe they should have stopped there. However, since they didn’t why not keep going? It can only get better, unless, of course, it gets worse, which would be bad.

What do you think? Are you excited about this sequel? Do you prefer Agent K or Agent J? Would you be disappointed if K is played by Josh Brolin for the majority of the film? Check out the trailer below and let me know what you think by voting and leaving a comment. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button. Then, if you want to keep up with future posts and projects, you can follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/#!/AdamODwyer1.

The Dark Knight Rises is one of the most anticipated films of 2012. Fans are curious about how the franchise will end and the latest poster may be hinting at a grim conclusion.

The poster shows Bane walking away from a broken Batman helmet. While it may not mean anything, it immediately brings up the possibility that the series could break with tradition and end with the death of a hero. In the comic world, Bane, at one point, broke Batman’s back. For a while people suspected that this comic, The Man that Broke the Bat, was one of the many that inspired the movie. Broken helmet = broken bat? Then there’s the very real possibility that it’s simply an ad campaign. Think about it, how can you get emotionally invested in a character that you know is in no real danger?

For me this series has always been about taking Batman to that dark place, the place he should be, and just exploring that uncensored. It would be disappointing if Christopher Nolan went for the standard ending. That doesn’t mean I’d feel let down if Batman lives, I’ll be happy as long as they don’t keep him alive just because he’s Batman. He has to earn it.

What do you think? Do you think that the poster is just a marketing ploy? Are you excited about the film? Would you like a dark ending for the franchise? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button. If you want more information and details on upcoming reviews and projects then feel free to add me on twitter https://twitter.com/#!/AdamODwyer1, right now I have no followers so be the first.

Though others may try, there is no greater, fictional, detective than Sherlock Holmes. Originally created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes has gone on to be the star of many adaptations, including Guy Richie’s extremely successful 2009 film. On the 16th of December, a sequel, also directed by Guy Richie, will hit cinemas, but will it be able to live up the high expectations of the excited fans?

The story picks up were the first one left off. Holmes, played by Robert Downey Jr., is hot on the trail of Professor Moriarty, played by Jared Harris. The film starts off with a, much too short, cameo appearance from Rachel McAdams who plays the infamous Irene Adler. In her place, as this film’s female character, is Sim, a fortune teller played by Swedish actress Noomi Rapace. This is Rapace’s first English speaking role, but she did a great job and Stephen Fry also appears in the film as Sherlock’s brother Mycroft.

I really enjoyed it, I went in with high expectations and they were exceeded. One thing I would say though is that I wasn’t expecting Moriarty’s face to be revealed so soon. They went through so much trouble to hide it in the first movie that it seems odd them showing it not only early in the film, but also in the trailer. Though it did lead to some interesting scenes between Holmes and Moriarty, I couldn’t help thinking that Moriarty had plenty of opportunities to kill Sherlock. However, I’m glad he didn’t make use of these opportunities as the rest of the adventure is an interesting ride full of twists and turns that recall earlier parts of the film that you didn’t think were important, which is one of my favourite things about these movies.

If, like me, you lack the observation skills that Holmes has, don’t worry as the plot is very clear and at the end of the film you’ll understand it all. If not, well you can Google it later and the scenery alone is enough to keep you occupied in the unlikely event that you get completely lost. I don’t know how they did it, but it really looks and feels like the late 1800s, which is important because if the look’s off then it’s harder to get engrossed in the world that they’ve made.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, or Sherlock Holmes 2, is a fantastic movie that, in my eyes, surpasses to original and maybe even steals the trophy of film of the year.

What do you think? Do you have keen observation skills? Would you like to see the new Sherlock Holmes film? Are you team Sherlock or team Moriarty? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button. If you really want to keep up to date with the blog, and some other up and coming projects, then you can follow me, AdamODwyer1, on Twitter.

One of the weirdest families ever on TV, second only to the Addams family, are set to make a comeback. It’s The Munsters, which I literally just realised was a play on the word monsters (more evidence that my observation skills are not akin to those of Sherlock Holmes).

We live in an age were nothing is ever truly over. Bands and TV shows make dramatic comebacks after years of being thought fondly about, only to destroy their reputation with a, usually short, return. Maybe this time will be different, but probably not.

The original show was made in the 60s and followed a family of monsters that try to live normal lives and could never understand why people were afraid of them. The family was made up of Herman (the father), Lily (the mother), Eddie (the son), Marilyn (the niece) and grandpa (really you need an explanation). Each of them is a type of monster; Lily and grandpa are vampires, Eddie is a werewolf, Herman is a sort of Frankenstein’s monster and Marilyn, perhaps most frightening of all, is a human.

This new version of the show will start filming in February 2012. No cast have been announced yet, but some information about the plot has been leaked. The pilot will show ten year old Eddie, who doesn’t know he’s a werewolf, transform while on a camping trip with his school. This then forces the family to move and Eddie discovers that his family isn’t normal after all (I’m not the only one who isn’t observant). Also, Marilyn has an eating disorder; she only eats suicide victims, which sounds a really dark. This time around the show will be an hour long drama rather than a 30 minute sitcom. Oh and did I mention Bryan Singer is directing the pilot, which means it’s got to be good.

Putting scepticism aside for a second, I have to say this does sound like an interesting viewing experience, one that I will be watching at least once; to pull it apart piece by piece if it’s bad, but hopefully it will be good. Though there are a lot of examples that would suggest otherwise.

What do you think? Do you remember the original? Will you watch the pilot? Are my observation skills really not up to the Sherlock Holmes standard? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button.